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People-watching

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The Destroyer
Joined
Apr 24, 2007
Messages
1,276
MBTI Type
ISTP
Enneagram
5w4
Instinctual Variant
so/sx
Who does it; who doesn't?

I'll admit I'm totally guilty of doing this all the time. I'm nosy. I just love looking for clues of what people are up to and who they are and imagining what their lives are like.

(Yeah, I didn't know whether to put this in sports or nature.)
 

JivinJeffJones

New member
Joined
Apr 25, 2007
Messages
3,702
MBTI Type
INFP
I don't do it. It feels too intrusive - on me. People-watching makes me feel like my personal space is being encroached upon. Even watching reality shows are overwhelming. Too much empathy perhaps? Not sure.
 

/DG/

silentigata ano (profile)
Joined
Mar 19, 2009
Messages
4,602
I don't do it. It feels too intrusive - on me. People-watching makes me feel like my personal space is being encroached upon. Even watching reality shows are overwhelming. Too much empathy perhaps? Not sure.

Awww... you little INFP you. :hug:

I guess I people watch, ocasionally. I'd rather daydream, though.
 

BerberElla

12 and a half weeks
Joined
Sep 25, 2008
Messages
2,725
MBTI Type
infp
I don't do it. It feels too intrusive - on me. People-watching makes me feel like my personal space is being encroached upon. Even watching reality shows are overwhelming. Too much empathy perhaps? Not sure.

I do, but because I feel it's intrusive I just make sure they don't see me do it, but I'm always wondering what the inside of a strangers life looks like. You don't even have to be alive lol I sit in a graveyard (it's pretty and peaceful) and I wonder about the lives of individual grave holders.

As for reality shows, I wouldn't watch them simply because they are reality, and reality sucks. :D
 

Wade Wilson

New member
Joined
Oct 17, 2008
Messages
411
MBTI Type
INTP
I people-watch. People-dissect-with-my-eyes. People-make-up-backstories ... the works.
 

Quinlan

Intriguing....
Joined
Apr 6, 2008
Messages
3,004
MBTI Type
ISFP
Enneagram
9w1
Sometimes I see all the people around me and imagine what it would be like to be in their consciousness, like it's kind of awe inspiring to think that each one has their own big world going on inside them. Other times I just admire all the pretty ladies...
 

ThatsWhatHeSaid

Well-known member
Joined
May 11, 2007
Messages
7,263
MBTI Type
INTP
Enneagram
5w4
I love doing it. If you really want to get deeper into it, you should try doing what a zoologist would do. It makes me very happy, actually.

Read this book: << click me
 

LucrativeSid

New member
Joined
Oct 20, 2007
Messages
837
I don't. It seems to contribute to the overall magnificence of my life about as much as watching the pipes screensaver on my computer does. It might look different sometimes, but it's all the same. People are wonderful, but I just don't find it interesting to watch them. I'd rather ignore them, talk to them, learn from them, or do something with them. If I'm going to watch them, they better be doing something pretty amazing.

I love my own imagination and perspective and I don't really bother to wonder what it's like to be in someone else's shoes. Unless I like their shoes, of course, but I guess even that is only done for the sake of my own progress. In seeking what we want in life, we have to ignore thousands of things. And for me, people watching is one of them. Most people just don't offer me anything I'm looking for in that regard. I might miss an opportunity here and there, as we all do, but I'm still only trying to move in my own personal version of "up". And as long as I keep moving, I'm not really worried about any missed opportunities.
 

lbloom

New member
Joined
Jun 15, 2007
Messages
83
MBTI Type
INTP
Frequently, if I get the opportunity to watch them up close. I like to try and figure out what makes them tick.

I don't really do it consciously. I just realize later that I have plenty of data to work with, and do.
 

Snow Turtle

New member
Joined
May 28, 2007
Messages
1,335
Yep I people watch. It adds to my overall understanding of other people and myself. I've got to admit I'm guilty of wanting to read through peoples stuff, to get to know them better, but I refrain from doing so because it's a total invasion of privacy. Jeez. People stalker sounds so horrible T_____T

I just want to know you better, it's for my Fe project!!
 

nasmoe

New member
Joined
Sep 15, 2008
Messages
78
MBTI Type
IXFP
Enneagram
5
sometimes I watch people for a quick sec then I don't think about them anymore.
I daydream too much to stay focused on other people.
 

juggernaut

Permabanned
Joined
Mar 22, 2009
Messages
1,009
I find myself people watching almost every day. I travel by foot during the week and it seems to be an inevitable consequence. There are two things that strike me most, a person's gait and his/her shoes. I did a project for an anthropology class several years ago in which we had to describe the way the particular primates we were observing navigated their territory, and I haven't been able to shake the habit since. I catch myself puzzling over and describing the movement in my head. I like looking for patterns and similarities between body types and comparing the movements to other primates. It's amazing how much we look like bonobos in an upright position, lol!The shoe thing is probably related insofar as it's generally the wear that catches my eye.
 

Colors

The Destroyer
Joined
Apr 24, 2007
Messages
1,276
MBTI Type
ISTP
Enneagram
5w4
Instinctual Variant
so/sx
I don't. It seems to contribute to the overall magnificence of my life about as much as watching the pipes screensaver on my computer does. It might look different sometimes, but it's all the same. People are wonderful, but I just don't find it interesting to watch them. I'd rather ignore them, talk to them, learn from them, or do something with them. If I'm going to watch them, they better be doing something pretty amazing.

I love my own imagination and perspective and I don't really bother to wonder what it's like to be in someone else's shoes. Unless I like their shoes, of course, but I guess even that is only done for the sake of my own progress. In seeking what we want in life, we have to ignore thousands of things. And for me, people watching is one of them. Most people just don't offer me anything I'm looking for in that regard. I might miss an opportunity here and there, as we all do, but I'm still only trying to move in my own personal version of "up". And as long as I keep moving, I'm not really worried about any missed opportunities.

Really? I don't feel this way at all. I'm really timid so I don't take as many chances as I really want to, but when I do- when I draw back the steel curtain so many people put up, people really surprise me. I think most people work really hard at seeming "normal" and people watching is a sort of one of the only ways to get at the weird insides without having to go through social defense. Each person is so many things to so many people. A lover, a friend, a child, a parent, a student, a mentor.

And even the little things unfold elegantly to reveal, it seems. I used to take a bus to class. And every morning a plumpish older lady took the bus at the same time, getting off at the same stop every day. She always wore very traditional, belly-bearing Indian dress, even though it was often chill. Until one day I suppose the weather got cold enough and she started wearing a powder blue full-length-ish puffy Marshmellow-man jacket over her belly-bearing outfits. I loved to imagine where she was going, and how the jacket came about.

I don't know. I guess I just see a lot of funny & touching things out and about. It's polite but silly to pretend we live him our own personal bubbles of thought, and we never seem to share this inner monologue cause it seems trivial.
 

Colors

The Destroyer
Joined
Apr 24, 2007
Messages
1,276
MBTI Type
ISTP
Enneagram
5w4
Instinctual Variant
so/sx
I find myself people watching almost every day. I travel by foot during the week and it seems to be an inevitable consequence. There are two things that strike me most, a person's gait and his/her shoes. I did a project for an anthropology class several years ago in which we had to describe the way the particular primates we were observing navigated their territory, and I haven't been able to shake the habit since. I catch myself puzzling over and describing the movement in my head. I like looking for patterns and similarities between body types and comparing the movements to other primates. It's amazing how much we look like bonobos in an upright position, lol!The shoe thing is probably related insofar as it's generally the wear that catches my eye.

That's so cool, juggernaut. Yeah, sometimes I'll go weeks looking for something in particular, to complement what I'd already thinking about. Sometimes it's something really silly though, like whether righties and lefties thread their belts in opposite directions, or friends and similar dressing patterns.

Walk is interesting, but I must admit I'm usually listening to the sound there. Some people walk really loud! And some people bob up and down a lot, while others glide by doing all the turning through the hips. :yes: I'm definitely going to have to check out some primate walking videos when I have the free time (establish a nice baseline and all).
 
P

Phantonym

Guest
I don't, at least not in real life. I'm too busy watching myself. But I'd like to do it. That's why sunglasses were invented.
Online - yes, guilty as charged. Here my stalkerish tendencies are unleashed. I try to keep it under control and myself invisible.
 

Colors

The Destroyer
Joined
Apr 24, 2007
Messages
1,276
MBTI Type
ISTP
Enneagram
5w4
Instinctual Variant
so/sx
Then what have you seen here, Sky is Blue? If you don't mind me asking. (I must admit to have not seen you around before.)
 
P

Phantonym

Guest
Then what have you seen here, Sky is Blue? If you don't mind me asking. (I must admit to have not seen you around before.)

I have seen loads of amazing people. And I know there's more to be seen :) And yes, I'm watching YOU.
 
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